1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,879 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. People who strive for success often juggle multiple 7 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: jobs and hobbies, hoping for their big break. For Claude, 8 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: keeping multiple balls in the air was what brought him 9 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: that success in the first place. Claude was born in Darby, Pennsylvania. 10 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: In His father had served in the Civil War before 11 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: settling down to manage a hotel part time and to 12 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: sell produce. He also had a short fuse, especially when 13 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: it came to his son. It got so bad between 14 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 1: the two of them that Claude often ran away to 15 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: live with relatives, but he always came back. When he 16 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: was twelve, Claude started working odd jobs around Pennsylvania. However, 17 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: he didn't find his true calling until he discovered juggling. 18 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 1: After watching a juggler perform at a theater near his home, 19 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: Claude discovered what he wanted to do for the rest 20 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: of his life. He devoted the next several years to 21 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: perfecting his talent juggling for churchgoers and local audiences. Before 22 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:32,959 Speaker 1: leaving home for the last time. At the age of eighteen, 23 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: he played vaudeville, adopting the persona of a tramp juggler 24 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: based on a similar character created by fellow performer at 25 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: James Edward Harrigan. Claude soon moved on to bigger stages 26 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: and brighter lights all over the world. He eventually joined 27 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: Zigfield Follies and enhanced his juggling act with comedy. He 28 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: juggled everything too, from balls and cigarette boxes hats. If 29 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: a ball didn't land exactly the right way, he would 30 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: scold it in front of a laughing crowd. If his 31 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: cigar missed his mouth, he'd curse it under his breath 32 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: to hilarious effect. After a few years of working as 33 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: a comic juggler, Claude branched out. He exchanged his hats 34 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: and cigar boxes for a script in the Broadway musical 35 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: The ham Tree. He never acted before, but it suited 36 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: him well and it only led to bigger and better bills. 37 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: He even performed for King George the Fifth and Queen 38 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: Mary of England. Claude never slowed down, and he didn't 39 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: rest his laurels either. He was always looking to make 40 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: his act bigger and better. In nineteen fifteen, he went 41 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,799 Speaker 1: on Broadway with a new kind of show, involving a 42 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: specially made pool table and cues of various shapes, which 43 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: he used to make impossible shots. It was in the 44 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: same year when Claude made the jump from the stage 45 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: to the silver screen. He started in two silent films 46 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: before taking another stage role, where he adopted his iconic 47 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: part of a smarmie kan man in a top hat 48 00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: and a coat. Once he made the jump to the 49 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 1: screwing though, the ladder of success only took Claude higher 50 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: and higher. His silent work carried over into the talkies 51 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: and he became a full fledged movie star. His greatest performance, however, 52 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: never took place on stage or screen. Claude made waves, 53 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: so to speak. During the summer of the eighteen year 54 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 1: old was recommended for a gig in Atlantic City by 55 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: a friend with a connection there. The pay was ten 56 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: dollars a week and all he had to do was juggle, 57 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: oh and drown. When he wasn't tossing balls and hats 58 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: into the air. Claude would swim out into the ocean 59 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: and start drowning. A co conspirator would jump into save him, 60 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: drawing a crowd. Once he was saved. Onlookers who had 61 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: worked up a hunger watching the daring rescue would buy 62 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: themselves a hot dog at the nearby vendor who just 63 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: happened to be in on the whole thing. Many years 64 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: later in life, he bought a house in Hollywood, and 65 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: it came with a pool out back, and one day 66 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: he was entertaining some friends who asked him why he 67 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: never swam in it. It said that he replied, would 68 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: you like to swim if you had drowned? One? Sixty 69 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: eight times? That drowning routine had brought in big business 70 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: for the eateries on the pier, but it wasn't what 71 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: made a celebrity out of William Claude Ducinfield. We have 72 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: his over at the top antics on stage and on 73 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: screen to thank for that. By then, though the world 74 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: didn't know him as William Claude Ducinfield. No, the juggler, 75 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:31,039 Speaker 1: pool hustler and professional drowner was better known by his 76 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: stage name legendary performer W. C. Fields. Beauty is fleeting 77 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: when we visit museums and galleries. We don't think about 78 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 1: the inevitable that the paintings and sculptures we love now 79 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: will one day disappear. Time will eventually take the from us, 80 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: which is probably for the best. They're beautiful because they're temporary. 81 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: Naturalist and cartographer Girolamo Sagato didn't believe that beauty should 82 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: be temporary. Born in the tiny village of Sasaparolo, Italy, 83 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety two, Sagato grew up interested in a 84 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: variety of subjects, including mathematics, chemistry, and exploration. On a 85 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: trip to Egypt in his mid twenties, Sagato was captivated 86 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: by the ancient mummies. He wanted to practice his own 87 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: kind of preservation, so he and his partner wrote a 88 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: book about what they discovered during their travels. They made 89 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: some money from their work and were on their way 90 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: to real success, but the good times wouldn't last for long. 91 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,159 Speaker 1: Sagato's partner ran off to Paris with everything, all the money, 92 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: the notes, and the research they had collected. Crushed by 93 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: the loss of his life's work and his friendship, Sigado 94 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: retreated into cartography. It was time to move on, and 95 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: so he carved a new path in life. He made 96 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 1: maps for roughly a decade before finding his true calling 97 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: and making art. In fact, that two of his finest 98 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: pieces were a set of tables. The first table was simple, 99 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 1: but pristine and well made. The second was a true 100 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,159 Speaker 1: work of art. It was decorated on top with a 101 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: marble mosaic inlay of different shapes diamonds, circles, squares, and rectangles, 102 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,839 Speaker 1: all adorned with colored stones of varying sizes. The lines 103 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: of each section were crisp, as though they were crafted 104 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: by a machine, but every part embedded within the table 105 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:33,039 Speaker 1: top had been crafted by hand, his hand. After he 106 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: made those tables, Saggato moved on to sculpture. His first 107 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: piece was that of a young woman. Her proportions were exact, 108 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,280 Speaker 1: and he managed to make her look alive, as though 109 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: her skin might react to the slightest touch. Another work 110 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: was that of a woman's head with long flowing hair. 111 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: It garnered him widespread acclaim in popular magazines like Harper's. 112 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: His sculptures were compared to those of famous artists like 113 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,840 Speaker 1: Hiram powers, as well as the iconic Grecian Venus to 114 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: Edgy statue. But he didn't produce a lot during his 115 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: short life, and he passed away at the young age 116 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 1: of forty four, and very few of his pieces still 117 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: exist today. Sagato had come up with a specialized technique 118 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: for working with his preferred materials. After a break in 119 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: and attempted theft of his research, he destroyed every last 120 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: scrap of paper that he had. Because of his secrecy, 121 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: no one has ever been able to replicate his methods, 122 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: not that they would want to. The world probably isn't 123 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: ready for more furniture made from corpses. You see, Girolamo 124 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: Sgado didn't stick to only using wood for his tables. 125 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: He didn't make his master works out of marble either. 126 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: Utilizing knowledge from his archaeological digs in Egypt and his 127 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: research on ancient mummies, the former cartographer had developed a 128 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: brand new way to preserve the human body. It wasn't mummification, though, 129 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: it was called mineralization or petrification. He took a body 130 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: that was very recently deceased and injected a special substance 131 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: into a to preserve its flesh and organs. Everything would 132 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: harden to stone, and Sigato would then manipulate it like 133 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: a material for his own purposes. Sometimes he would leave 134 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: the bodies as is. Other times he would slice and 135 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: carve the skin, spleen, liver, and other organs into different shapes, 136 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: as he did with his famous table. The result was 137 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: a maccab checkerboard pattern inlaid against a wooden backdrop. His 138 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,679 Speaker 1: pieces were more artistic than morbid, but many who witnessed 139 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: the creations were still dismayed. They didn't understand the science 140 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: behind his petrification methods. Instead, they claimed that Sigato had 141 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: learned Egyptian magic. So, in a fit of anger and 142 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 1: self doubt, the unconventional artist destroyed all traces of his formula. 143 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:50,839 Speaker 1: His surviving pieces now reside in the Museum of the 144 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: Department of Anatomy in Florence. The table we described can 145 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 1: be found at the Royal Palace of Caserta in southern Italy. 146 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: Others throughout history have tried to create his formula for 147 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: human mineralization, and some have come close, but so far 148 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: no one has been able to match it exactly. Giro 149 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: Lamo Sagato was one of a kind, and by taking 150 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:14,680 Speaker 1: his secret to the grave. He made sure he would 151 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: stay that way. With the formula gone, his remains never 152 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,559 Speaker 1: had the chance at longevity he offered to the rest 153 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: of his subjects. Ironic absolutely, but more than that, it 154 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: sure was curious. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour 155 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 156 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,679 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 157 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky 158 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 159 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 160 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 161 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until 162 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: next time, stay cure sarious um.